Reflections: Bumping into God

ReflectionsSister NatalieRossi

December 14, 2013 12:01 AM

ReflectionsSister NatalieRossi

December 14, 2013 12:01 AM

Readers' Reflections

What do you think was the biggest religion story of 2013? Send your answer, in 100 words or less, to Readers' Reflections in care of Dana Massing, Erie Times-News, 205 W. 12th St., Erie, PA 16534 or to dana.massing@timesnews.com. Include your full name, congregation or religious affiliation if you have one, and phone number. Answers must be received by Dec. 23. Look for your words in the Erie Times-News or on GoErie.com on the last Saturday of the month.

"God and I have become like two giant fat people living in a tiny boat. We keep bumping into each other and laughing." Hafiz

Bumping into God -- Is it an oops, a mistake?

We are created in God's image.

Forgiveness pours forth from God so we can change and be an elixir for change in others.

We learn that God is love, that God wants the best for us. But look around, there is so much pain, suffering, trials.

Oops, there we go again bumping into love: There for the asking, there for all of us, Christian, Jew and Muslim, for everyone. God is there to help us not change the world, but to help us mold and shape the world with the energy of love. God-love-Christ has been with us from the beginning of time, sustaining us, guiding us, supporting us.

Our bumping is subtle and unnoticed and disregarded so often -- in the little things of life: a kind word, a gentle smile, a helping hand, a listening heart to the wisdom of an elder.

I experienced this bumping at the State Correctional Institution at Cambridge Springs with inmates training dogs in the canine partner program that would accompany people with special needs, inmates translating books into Braille, inmates being trained in hospice work to be there for inmates who were dying, inmates knitting hats and slippers for children in the cancer hospital, and inmates reaching out to their sisters inside who need a listening ear. The inmates collected thousands of canceled stamps to help purchase Bibles in other languages for poor countries. Surely they were bumping into God and laughing.

How do we connect to the whirlwind of grace that changes the world? We are stuck in a shelter that protects us from recognizing our bumping, thus no joy, no laughter.

So daily we ask who is this God that we are bumping? The inevitable answer is God is mystery.

None of us is worthy of God's love. It is just there within and without, ours to bump into, to absorb, to bring into our world laughing. It is not rocket science. It is simple, subtle. Love dwells within and without, waiting to transform the world. Our choice is to bring it forth or to keep it hidden.

It is up to us. As we keep bumping into God, are we laughing at the miracle that can bring forth transformation?

Reflections is a column by religious leaders in the region. Sister Natalie Rossi is a member of the Sisters of Mercy and a leadership team councilor for their New York, Pennsylvania, Pacific West Community.